WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 145: Roll the Dice
──────
“It’s 3.”
Should I be glad 1 hadn’t come up?
I looked at my empty right hand, then turned toward the hamster cards.
There was only one person whose individual number contained a 3.
｜#535｜
｜Status｜Hunger: 3｜Prettiness: 5｜Obedience: 8｜
｜Trait: 535 has black fur. They dislike noise.｜
Jeong Ji-ho.
There was no way I could complete my number, 546, anyway, so I needed to roll a 5.
Twice in a row.
Of course, I wouldn’t be able to take Ji-ho to the ninth floor this round, so it was pointless.
Still, the sooner I figured out exactly how preemptive claims and purchases worked, the better.
Swish.
Once again, I held the die the same way as before and rolled it a little harder.
“The number is……”
Clatter, rattle.
“It’s 5.”
There.
I tried to recall the sensation from a moment ago.
I had to remember.
The conditions that made a 5 appear.
Swish.
I immediately rolled the die again, using the same grip and force as before.
“The number is……”
Tap, rattle.
“It’s 1.”
I clicked my tongue without realizing it.
So remembering it wasn’t enough to succeed in one try.
“3, 5, 1.”
The dealer announced the three results in order, then looked at me.
“Seon Yu-han, would you like to make a preemptive claim?”
“No.”
There was no individual I could claim, even if I wanted to.
“Understood. Seon Yu-han has declined to exercise a preemptive claim. Would you like to call someone?”
Call someone……
Who should I call?
No, what would calling them even do?
Could I plead with them? Ask them not to buy us?
I began carefully looking over the customer cards.
｜The Voyeur｜
｜Preference: “My companion.”｜
That was creepy, so I really didn’t want to call this one.
｜The Jailer｜
｜Preference: “A pair. It would be nice if they were both aggressive.”｜
This one might be worth trying, if it really was the creator of that maze prison.
｜The General Manager｜
｜Preference: “☎Free★ Ove❥rnight ◌Trial-Group Rec✒ruitment In Pro❣gress, Age☬♧d Peo➳ple PrefeRred➯”｜
What was this?
If it was the General Manager and overnight stays, then perhaps……
‘……Everlook Hotel, operating out of Agent Team 2 on the sixth floor of Jaelae Building, hereafter referred to as the Corridor of Unforgettable Memories……’
Was it connected to the Corridor of Unforgettable Memories?
｜Lord of the Five Precepts｜
｜Preference: “I want a simple child. They’ll be used as a primordial seed, so it would be better if they were pretty……”｜
What the hell was this one?
｜assistant manager｜
｜Preference: “Hello. Our internal schedule for the tournament is a little tight, so if possible, could you contact me first as soon as you have enough stock for one set? I definitely intend to purchase, so it would be a huge help if you could reserve them for me, even briefly. I apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you.”｜
Ah.
It seemed to be the owner of that forest, the one hosting the race tournament.
｜The Cook｜
｜Preference: “I’m not that picky. The child just needs to be healthy. I’ll take care of the rest.”｜
If The Cook meant what I thought it meant, that was incredibly ominous.
｜All Dharma｜
｜Preference: “⏺ || ⏭”｜
What the hell was that supposed to mean? Speak Korean, you bastard.
“Could you translate properly?”
The dealer bowed politely.
“The customer made a request. The compensation was too great to refuse. We ask for your generous understanding.”
“Do I look generous?”
The dealer shrugged rudely.
I watched that irritating display for a moment, then returned my attention to the cards.
｜Yeosalta｜
｜Preference: “The last thing. What remains. What is discarded.”｜
Did it want clearance goods?
There were a lot of strange things here.
Anyway……
｜Seon · Yu · Han｜
｜Preference: “Individual numbers 546, 655, 845, 535, 475, 244 (out of stock), 257, 545, 555 (out of stock), 556 (out of stock), 756 (out of stock), 446, 46 (not authorized).”｜
I went through dozens of customer cards, ending with my own.
Most of them seemed to be window shoppers who would never actually make a purchase.
There were far fewer children than cards, so there could only be a pitifully small number of actual buyers. Still, even after repeating loops, I’d never gotten the sense that the real buyers changed much.
It seemed safe to think that most were just meaningless onlookers browsing out of curiosity.
“I’ll call someone.”
I pointed to one card.
“The Jailer.”
“Yes. ‘Seon · Yu · Han’ has called ‘The Jailer.’”
The dark curtain inside the card fluttered……
“‘The Jailer’ has answered ‘Seon · Yu · Han’s’ call.”
Nothing happened.
Wondering what that was supposed to mean, I waited silently, watching the faint curtain sway back and forth.
“‘The Jailer’ has accepted ‘Seon · Yu · Han’s’ request.”
No, what request?
I hadn’t done anything yet.
Just as I was about to ask what the hell that meant, the dealer moved The Jailer’s customer card aside.
The curtain in the image shook violently.
“‘The Jailer’ wishes to call ‘Seon · Yu · Han.’”
What was that supposed to mean?
The dealer continued, looking at me and somewhere far away at the same time.
“‘The Jailer’ has failed to call them. ‘Seon · Yu · Han’ has not answered ‘The Jailer’s’ call.”
It could fail?
What exactly was going on here?
The violently shaking curtain went still again, and the image faded completely to black.
“The conversation has ended.”
“……It didn’t feel like much of a conversation.”
“Now, roll the dice.”
The dealer showed no sign of explaining further, so I eventually just rolled the dice.
Carefully, one at a time.
Clatter, rattle.
6.
Tap, rattle.
5.
Clatter, rattle.
7.
A dud. They’d been coming out well until the last one.
“Seon Yu-han, would you like to make a preemptive claim?”
“No.”
I could make Hyeon Je-won’s individual number, 756, but Hyeon Je-won was already dead.
“Understood. Seon Yu-han has declined to exercise a preemptive claim. Would you like to call someone?”
“Yeah. assistant manager.”
“Yes. ‘Seon · Yu · Han’ has called ‘assistant manager.’”
Then the same thing happened again.
“‘assistant manager’ has rejected ‘Seon · Yu · Han’s’ request.”
Other than the fact that they had rejected a request I’d never made.
This time, the dealer left the assistant manager’s card where it was.
Unlike The Jailer’s card, which had been moved aside after supposedly accepting my request.
I thought I roughly understood what the request was.
What I wanted from the other customers was for them to please get out of this game.
“‘assistant manager’ has failed to call them. ‘Seon · Yu · Han’ has not answered ‘assistant manager’s’ call. The conversation has ended.”
“……But what is that supposed to be? Why do these things keep calling me?”
“Now, roll the dice.”
If the Labyrinth told you to roll, you rolled. If it told you to crawl, you crawled.
So I rolled.
Tap.
2.
Rattle.
7.
Clatter.
8.
“Ha……”
Even rolling dice wasn’t easy.
“Would you like to call someone?”
“Yeah. The General Manager.”
“Yes. ‘Seon · Yu · Han’ has called ‘The General Manager.’”
The being I suspected was the General Manager of Everlook Hotel, the Corridor of Unforgettable Memories, answered my call and accepted my request.
“‘The General Manager’ wishes to call ‘Seon · Yu · Han.’”
Right. Now it would fail to call me.
“‘Seon · Yu · Han’ has answered ‘The General Manager’s’ call.”
“What? I did?”
At that moment.
The curtain opened.
* * *
“The conversation has ended.”
“……Huh?”
I stared stupidly at the dealer in front of me, then looked at The General Manager’s card on the table.
The image had gone completely black. Nothing was visible.
“It seems your conversation with The General Manager went well.”
Wondering if I was the only one who didn’t understand what was happening, I looked around.
The others only seemed a little confused. None of them looked shocked by anything.
“Did something just happen to me?”
“Uh…… Nothing happened……? Did something happen to you, Yu-han?”
“……I was asking because I don’t know either.”
It didn’t feel as if time had passed without my knowledge.
It seemed that a conversation had taken place in a separate time and space.
“Why can’t I remember?”
“It seems The General Manager has decided to erase the private conversation record.”
I wasn’t just uncomfortable. I was anxious.
Nothing seemed wrong with my body.
But I didn’t expect my memories to be returned, either.
“Then why didn’t this one fail to call me?”
“The General Manager knows how to call ‘Seon · Yu · Han’ by the name’s true meaning, so they do not need to roll dice in order to call you.”
“……Ah. Ah.”
If it really was the General Manager of the Corridor of Unforgettable Memories, finding out the meaning of my name wouldn’t be difficult.
“Then the others rolled dice too? To call my name?”
“Yes.”
Strangely enough, that comforted me.
Even beings like those didn’t always have good luck with dice.
“For reference, the other customers use large twenty-sided dice.”
“……”
I wondered how they even used something like that as a die, but I had no obligation to argue on the other customers’ behalf.
“Now, roll the dice.”
I just needed to get better at rolling mine.
｜Preference: “Individual numbers 546, 655, 845, 535, 475, 244 (out of stock), 257, 545, 555 (out of stock), 556 (out of stock), 756 (out of stock), 446, 46 (not authorized).”｜
Most of the numbers I wanted were between 4 and 6.
It would be nice if 2, 3, 7, and 8 came up once each. A 1 must never come up.
Tap. Rattle……
In truth, a die’s result wasn’t decided by luck or misfortune.
The shape and mass of the die, the height and angle at which it was thrown, the force of the throw, the speed and number of rotations, the friction of the surface it struck……
It was determined by all those physical conditions.
Clatter, rattle……
Predicting the result by controlling those conditions was so difficult that people simply treated it as a matter of luck.
‘However, should you refuse to gamble against me, I will take one stroke of future luck that you would otherwise gain as the price.’
Just as I had cut my finger on paper or thrown a box cutter so it would lodge in the back of my hand to deal with Doi’s guaranteed misfortune.
Strictly speaking, even the results of those actions could be controlled through minute adjustments to their conditions, but Doi had judged them to fall within the realm of luck.
And I was fortunate enough to have……
Tap, rattle.
Countless chances to roll dice under identical conditions.
Until the numbers I wanted came up.
Perfectly controlling the die so the desired number appeared at the exact moment I wanted would be impossible.
But I could at least raise the probability that certain numbers would come up more often.
In other words, I only needed to control myself, my own body.
“Seon Yu-han, would you like to make a preemptive claim?”
That was exactly what I was trying to do now.
Turn chance into inevitability.
Internalize the laws of physics.
Use rules to defeat rules.
“No.”
I had plenty of time anyway.
Footnotes:
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